Our franchisees and Head Office have been using InfoCORE’s services since 2002 and they have been instrumental in supporting our IT development as well as the full range of Pastel support services over the years. We have strategic plans to grow even faster and bigger, and we are delighted to have such a competent and service driven team in InfoCORE as our IT partner as we venture forward. Thank you InfoCORE for always being so quick to respond to our IT problems, either on-site or remotely – you have never let any of us down! We have all the confidence in you, as you guys really know your IT and Pastel stuff. We always recommend InfoCORE to our clients, and they are just as happy as we are!

Monique Sharland - CEO

Business Accounting Network

www.ban.co.za

We know how lucky we’ve been to have had such a great support team in InfoCore and really appreciate everything you did, and the lengths you went to get things done.

Sally Clements

The Eventful Group

http://www.theeventfulgroup.com

The first thing we noticed about infoCORE was that they really seemed to care. It was something quite strange to find from an IT company and very refreshing too. They now look after all our servers, desktops, Pastel software and everything in-between for one fixed fee. I love not having to spend my time under a desk trouble shooting IT problems in my business, and for the first time I know my IT budget. I just wish I had moved to infoCORE long ago.

Duncan Parker

Hemporium

www.hemporium.com

Wonderful company to deal with and Tawanda was fantastic. The support of Infocore out shines "Accounting Software Suppliers*" support by 1000 plus. *We were asked to remove their name.....

Sheila Tullleken

Mu & Me

www.muandme.net

Pastel are proud to announce the release of Pastel Accounting Version 12.

Stock will be available from Monday, 26 November 2012.

Softline Pastel’s continuous investment in research and development has enabled them to provide you with an exciting new technological enhancement that will change the way their customers and channel partners implement new builds and updates. Instead of having to get your hands on the latest DVD, or download the build , they now deploy the release via the internet, directly onto the users machine.

Of course, you will need to do a full install of Version 12 before this feature will become available, but from then on, users will periodically receive a notification that a new build is available in a pop up screen on their machines which will also detail the additional features provided in that build.
With the automatic updates in place this opens up a whole new way of delivering features and fixes to their customers at the click of a button. Their aim is to release enhancements and new features every few months through this mechanism.

How will Pastel's Cover customers receive their upgrade?

Once they have shipped Version 12 to all channel partners, they will then start rolling out the upgrades to all Cover customers, starting with 1000 next week, and the balance late January / early February 2013. Customers will require the new serial numbers which will be on their letters when they receive their upgrade, but we will also create incidents on their accounts with the details.

Be sure to take advantage of the new value-added benefits and install your upgrade as soon as you receive it! Please take the time to read through the new features and enhancements below which are now available in Pastel Accounting Version 12.

New features and functionality in Pastel Accounting Version 12: Base

Manage your VAT periods and reporting using the new Pastel Tax Manager
Closing VAT periods is essential to ensure correct VAT reporting to SARS and VAT reconciliations.
Click here for more information on the new Tax Manager.

Multiple company conversions
Gone are the days where you need to select and convert one company at a time with the multiple conversion functionality.
Click here to read more about this feature.

Duplicate reference numbers on customer documents
Have you ever created an invoice for your customer and used the same reference number for that customer?
Click here to read more about this feature.

Introducing QuickBooks 2013

Whether you are starting your dream business or have grown into a big one (and every size of business in-between), QuickBooks has the accounting and business management tools to make your finances easy, accurate and understandable.

The easiest accounting software has always had a following of small, medium and growing businesses owners, managers and accountants. If you analyse the ‘reason why’, it’s because of QuickBooks legendary ease of use, which means the user doesn’t need to be an accounting expert.

The 2013 QuickBooks range welcomes in a new era for us. We have added two new products to QuickBooks – Accountant and Enterprise Solutions. So there's now a QuickBooks solution to fit any business.

The new 2013 QuickBooks accounting software range comprises:

QuickBooks SimpleStart, which as the name implies, is really simple to use. It’s the ideal accounting system for home, start-up and small businesses.
QuickBooks Pro is designed for the small to medium sized business and as the company grows, can include up to 5 users.
QuickBooks Premier has all the features of Pro and more. Worldwide, it’s become the accounting standard for larger and growing businesses. What’s more, with this financial accounting software, you can add up to 5 simultaneous users.
QuickBooks Accountant can toggle between the 2013 versions of SimpleStart, Pro and Premier and gain quick access to accountant specific functionality.
QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions has been specifically designed for growing and established companies to manage their increasingly complex business finances.

QuickBooks Accounting Software offers excellent value when you consider its built-in features and price. And with no annual renewals, the value doesn’t end there.

infoCORE is offering 20% off Pastel Payroll Training

infoCORE is offering 20% off all Pastel Payroll Training Courses for July 2012.

This is for all courses provided by Pastel Payroll at all of their traing centers country wide.

Click here for details.

Upgrading to Windows 8 from 7, Vista, and XP

Microsoft has selected October 25, 2012 as the launch date (with general availability scheduled for the following day) for the latest version of its Windows operating system, Windows 8. Recently, Microsoft published information regarding upgrade paths from previous versions of Windows all the way back to XP.

Some upgrades won’t be as easy as others, depending on your starting point.

Here’s what Microsoft says you can expect, based on your current operating system:

Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium users can upgrade to Windows 8 and keep their applications, personal files, and system preferences intact.
Windows 7 Professional users will only keep their applications, personal files, and system preferences intact if they upgrade to Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise. Moving to the consumer versions of Windows 8 from Windows 7 Professional will require a fresh installation of the operating system, applications, and data.
Windows Vista users should install SP1 (“SP” stands for “service pack”) before upgrading to Windows 8, which will allow you to keep your personal files and system settings intact. Applications will need to be reinstalled manually after the upgrade.
XP users with SP3 will keep only their personal files—no applications, no settings.

Note that if you’re moving across architectures (32-bit to 64-bit, or vice-versa), you’ll need to perform a fresh install.

One more dose of reality: Experience gleaned in the field has shown that the best and most reliable path for upgrading to a new operating system is a fresh install (i.e., installing the new OS on a blank drive, as opposed to overwriting an older version of the OS). There are new migration tools to help transfer files and settings from older installations, but an OS upgrade generally takes at least a half to a full day to complete—perhaps longer depending on the number of additional applications you wish to install.

Finally, you must keep in mind that the chance of something going haywire while upgrading is a distinct possibility, so ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA BEFORE ATTEMPTING AN UPGRADE!

New Medical Aid Legislation effective 01 March 2012

Conversion of Medical Aid Scheme Contribution Deductions to Medical Scheme Contribution Tax Credits.

In a nutshell this means that the tax benefit of belonging to a Medical Aid Scheme is now calculated AFTER calculating PAYE on taxable income and then applying the tax credit. We will explain a bit more and provide an example.

Medical Aid Changes Example

Joe Brown, age 37, a member of ABC Medical Aid, earns a salary of R30 000 per month. His employer pays 50% of his total medical aid contribution of R4800 on his behalf. John is married to Lisa and they have two children.